Food made with a sense of DIY vegan attitude and aloha. “Food is not a chore; it’s a gift. Food shared with others repays you many times over.” ~A.Thomas

Posts Tagged ‘sweet potatoes’

This recipe is by request (which I always appreciate, so definitely send any and all recipe requests my way in the comments!). As you already know, I love sweet potatoes and I love caramelized onions. This simple burger marries the two together, along with black beans (another personal favorite) into one simple patty-shaped deliciousness delivery system.

If you have never made your own burgers before, I promise you that once you do you will never go back to frozen pre-packaged patties. Home made burgers pack a punch of fresh flavor and textures that the little cardboard hockey pucks simply can’t imitate. These guys are fairly easy to make, especially if you “bake” your potatoes in the microwave (to do this I poke holes in medium sized sweet potatoes with a fork, wrap them in damp paper towels, and bake them in the microwave for about seven minutes or until soft) and have some caramelized onions in your refrigerator ready to go. I especially like the addition of chipotle pepper to these – they add a nice smoky flavor that compliments the sweetness of the potatoes.

1. Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix/mash together until well blended. (The black beans will lose some of their texture, but I like to make sure that there are always some whole beans left to make the burgers more interesting)2. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat (a few tablespoons to cover the bottom will do, but be sure to continue to add oil if needed because these burgers can easily stick to the pan). Shape the burger mixture into eight patties. 3. Cook four burgers at a time (or fewer depending upon the size of your pan – the goal is to not crowd the pan), for about 4-5 minutes per side or until crispy brown on each side. 4. Serve with lots of fixins!

Consider my day made – my pitiful plea for more commenting in my last post resulted in some wonderful word and positive support. I’m putting on my best Cartman voice for this one: “I love you guys.”

Onto other things of which I am fond: I have already professed my love for the smooth and buttery sweet potato on this blog. Happily, I purchased a huge box of them not too long ago … and just the other day I noticed that we were down to a few lonely potatoes waiting to be eaten. I decided to pair these lucky taters with one of my other all time favorites: lentils. I love lentils – red, brown, green and all kinds in between. I had originally wanted to pair the sweet potatoes with red lentils and make a cheerful looking bowl full of orange-y beta carotene goodness, but lacking for red lentils I paired them instead with green lentils. The orange and the green, along with a sprinkle of vivid green cilantro picked straight from the winter garden, created a nice contrast of colors for this soothing bowl of good ol’ fashioned comfort food.

I love roasted garlic. I love the texture of garlic cloves after a good roasting: smooth, buttery, sweet, and mellow. Of course, once I start eating roasted garlic I want everyone else the room to do so, as well, lest I be the only one with the pungent breath that alerts the neighbors to what’s on the menu at my house. Eating garlic alone is just anti-social. Eating garlic as a group … well, that’s just bonding.

On New Year’s Eve I went nice and simple with our appetizer. I simply roasted a head of garlic and we ate the cloves smeared on garlic herb crackers. Doing so made me realize that roasted garlic is something that I should make a lot more of it as it really is so simple to do and it packs huge flavor. As I happen to have an abundance of garlic on hand at the moment, as well as a number of sweet potatoes (another food that I would send not-so-secret admirer letters to, if such a thing were possible) I decided to see what I could do with the two as an appetizer for the dinner I was making tonight for some friends who just came back on island after spending the holidays on the mainland. This dish was such a hit that we did the revisit after dinner while waiting for dessert!

1. Peel off the papery outer layes of the head of garlic, and cut off the tops of the cloves with a sharp knife. Place the garlic on asheet of garlic large enough to enclose it. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on the garlic, then wrap it completely in the foil.

2. Bake the garlic and the sweet potato (the potato should be pierced with a fork to allow stem to escape and just placed on a lightly greased baking sheet) at 400F for 35-35 minutes or until both are tender. The garlic may be done before your potato, depending on its size – be sure to keep an eye on them! Let them cool a bit after removing them from the oven.

3. Scoop the potato out of its flesh and squeeze the roasted garlic out each clove and place it all into a food processor along with the maple syrup, olive oil, chipotle hot sauce, salt, and pepper and puree until smooth. Serve garnished with pine nuts. Spread it on crackers, bread, pita, etc.